Bus driver applicants could get bonus

Published: Tuesday, March 11, 2014 at 07:26 PM.

PANAMA CITY — Prospective school bus drivers will get a $100 application bonus pending successful completion of a bus driver training course.

The Bay District School Board unanimously approved the bonus at Tuesday’s meeting as an incentive to get more bus drivers on board.

“We’re all competing for the good people,” said transportation director Bob Downin. “And this is just another little thing that we hope we can get good, quality, safe drivers out there.”

Applicants end up paying about $150 in upfront costs for bus drivers’ preliminary screenings, including physicals, permits and fingerprinting, Downin said. The costs are paid without guarantee of actually getting a job.

Seeing a shortage of bus drivers this school year, school district officials believe the $100 bonus will lure more applicants.

“We are paying for the training, but the cost is such that we are having a hard time attracting” applicants, Superintendent Bill Husfelt told board members. “Right now, we just want to pay those to help offset the costs.

“We’re talking less than $5,000 a year,” he later said about how much it could cost in total.

PANAMA CITY — Prospective school bus drivers will get a $100 application bonus pending successful completion of a bus driver training course.

The Bay District School Board unanimously approved the bonus at Tuesday’s meeting as an incentive to get more bus drivers on board.

“We’re all competing for the good people,” said transportation director Bob Downin. “And this is just another little thing that we hope we can get good, quality, safe drivers out there.”

Applicants end up paying about $150 in upfront costs for bus drivers’ preliminary screenings, including physicals, permits and fingerprinting, Downin said. The costs are paid without guarantee of actually getting a job.

Seeing a shortage of bus drivers this school year, school district officials believe the $100 bonus will lure more applicants.

“We are paying for the training, but the cost is such that we are having a hard time attracting” applicants, Superintendent Bill Husfelt told board members. “Right now, we just want to pay those to help offset the costs.

“We’re talking less than $5,000 a year,” he later said about how much it could cost in total.

In addition, the school district is looking at adding a 15-minute time window to allow buses more flexibility on bus routes. It has not been decided how the window will be applied or how the window would impact the school day.

“That 15 minutes will help us tremendously,” Downin said. “This extra 15 minutes will actually give us altogether about 40 to 45 minutes, and that’s what we need between each route.”

Earlier this year, the School Board approved a bonus schedule for bus drivers who have a sustained time with the school district. The School Board is currently negotiating the bonus schedule with the union.

Also at the meeting, board members adjusted the half-cent sales tax priority list, moving the renovation of Tom P. Haney Technical Center’s Building 8 from No. 21 to No. 12 on the list. The renovation, which involves moving a welding lab from Building 1 to Building 8, is estimated to cost $900,000, according to a Bay District Schools news release.

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